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arena

Spawn N parallel candidates at the same task, pick a base, graft the strongest parts of the losers into it. Use for /arena, 'arena this', 'throw it in the arena', or when one attempt at a non-trivial artifact would lock in the wrong shape.

plugins/pstack/skills/arena/SKILL.md

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# Arena

**Dispatch contract.** Read [`provider-dispatch.md`](../poteto-mode/references/provider-dispatch.md) before fan-out. Configured values are provider-qualified descriptors, not host-native model slugs. The parent starts native and external lanes directly; children never route themselves. On Codex, resolve the remaining Claude tool names via [`codex-tools.md`](../poteto-mode/references/codex-tools.md).

Open a todolist with one entry per phase (Frame, Fan out, Cross-judge, Pick, Graft, Verify) before launching anything.

## Phase A: Frame

Every candidate gets the same prompt, so the prompt is the contract.

1. State the artifact each candidate is producing.
2. Derive the rubric, 3-6 concrete gradeable criteria for what success looks like on *this* task. It is the picker's tool in Phase D. Candidates only see the task.
3. Pick the runners. Use `arena runners` from the current harness's pstack model sheet when present. Otherwise default to one each on `codex:gpt-5.6-sol@max`, `grok:grok-4.7@xhigh`, `claude:opus@max`. An `auto` or `inherit-parent` entry in this line or the cross-judge line uses the parent model through its native lane. Each seat follows provider-dispatch's saved-chain policy before every attempt. A terminal outcome the sheet's `# fallback` policy authorizes makes a read-only seat eligible for its next saved attempt (`usage-exhausted` only when no policy is saved); a writer advances only when the helper proves the workload never started or a recorded parent inspection clears it, and otherwise stops for inspection. Every other route failure is a dropout, not a substitution; record it and continue with the remaining seats. Spawn more runners when the arena covers multiple design directions. Use the same descriptor N times when the work is generation-bound rather than judgment-sensitive.
4. Give each candidate its own output location (a git worktree where possible, otherwise `/tmp/arena-<slug>/candidate-<n>/`), per the **separate-before-serializing-shared-state** principle skill.